Federer Forehand Analysis

Someone asked for it some time ago and I got this great pics so here it is (enjoy):

Roger begins his forhand motion by changing his grip and taking his racquet back with the help of his left hand.

With his eyes locked on the ball, Federer rotates his shoulders and begins his "C" loop backswing. Also notice his knees have bent a little further while remaining in an "open stance" position

His racquet is as back as he will take it on this shot. Notice that his backswing is pretty compact compared to Ferrero's. Also his left arm is extending out parallel to the net for balance and full shoulder turn. We saw this same thing with the Ferrero forehand.

His shoulders are fully turned on this shot as indicated by the location of his left hand. He begins to bring the racquet down and notice where the racquet head is pointing. Roger typically will "rock" his wrist backwards at this point to allow for greater topspin generation. Notice his head has barely moved and his eyes are always locked on the ball

As the ball begins to climb, Federer lowers his racquet even more and bends his knees a bit further. He wants to make sure he gets under that ball pretty good.

This is right before contact, his shoulders begin to become squared with the ball, his eyes are DEAD LOCKED at the ball, and the butt of his racquet is facing the ball.

This is the contact position. Roger comes slightly off the ground to generate a bit more power. His shoulders and hips are squared at impact and what still amazes me about him is how he keeps those eyes locked on that ball.

This is kind of a blurry shot, but there is two important things to note about his stroke here. First, he does not have the traditional over the shoulder follow through (as many pros don't). Roger wraps his racquet around his body with great acceleration. The other thing is that his eyes follow the ball as it comes off his racquet. I've seen many people and pros take their eyes off the ball at this point. This helps him sort of "guide" the ball to where he wants it on the court.

My coach explained that Federer does several things that differ from most great players, most pro's, when hitting his forehand. Like the straight(close to) arm before contact, under shoulder finish and such. One thing that is very apparent is that he actually turns his head into the ball somewhere around the contact, most players here 'simply' keep it steady. This, then could be the key to his ability to watch the ball all the way and would make it very tough to duplicate.

I have not seen many pros follow the ball with their head. I know I have seen Agassi follow the ball like that with his eyes, but his head quits truning after a point. My local club pro told me long ago that the pros just see the ball sooner and better than the rest, and this picture of Federer continues to prove it.

That said, I wonder if the 2nd and 3rd pix should be switched sequence-wise. First off, notice the position of the racquet head in both frames--it seems like the 3rd picture has Federer pointing the racquet forward in a "lagging" manner, i.e. the shoulder and hand are in a "previous" stage of the backswing---is the racquet head lags just a tad BEFORE going backwards into the loop? An exaggerated example of what I'm trying to describe would be that "lag" of the racquet head in Andy Roddick's forehand. I may be wrong, but either way great job posting these pix.

The "look into the ball" observation was very interesting as well: I've heard pros (when trying to reinforce the "keep your head still" tip) say that your opponent should be able to see both of your eyes---that is, your head should be looking forward and you should be tracking the ball by only moving your eyes (which is a rule I've habitually broken). So thank you Mr. Federer as well....I feel vindicated. Once again, lalopez--nice going.

i noticed that his shot seems simple, but it is very complex. when i add one of his elements to my game, something else is always off of my mind and the shot goes bad.

the thing that most improves my shot is that i keep my eyes on the ball. whenever i forget and use peripheral (sp?) vision, i dont hit very good balls. i even locked my eyes and keep them even after contact just like federer and my forehand is great. but i do not do it very consistently like i should though.

Great analysis. Federer has a great forehand. However, at times he also mishits his forehand in certain situations and that is because of his relatively straight hitting arm just before and through contact. His arm position in the backswing and followthrough phases is correct.